Jiang Rou had a deep impression of those eyes, as if she had suddenly seen the man he would become twenty years later.
She still remembered the first time she saw Li Xiao. Her chief took her to ask questions, and the man was sitting in the interrogation room. When the door opened, he looked up for a moment. Even though he was already forty at that time, with the hardships of life etched on his face, it still made her hold back her amazement.
She never expected that a person wearing wrinkled old clothes, looking completely destitute and disheveled, would still be so attractive that it was hard to look away.
He was indifferent, gloomy, with a casually disdainful smile hanging at the corner of his mouth, and his sharp eyes were filled with mockery.
His inherent hostility towards the police not only stemmed from his daughter but also from his upbringing.
According to records, his father was abusive and alcoholic. When he was nine years old, his father had a fatal accident. His mother remarried twice, and both men were far from ideal, leaving him neglected and without anyone to care for him.
He grew up with a local gang, where fights and brawls were common, and getting into trouble with the law was a regular occurrence.
To the extent that, even though he voluntarily surrendered, he didn’t cooperate much.
It was both provocation and disdain.
I still remember the night before the interrogation, Jiang Rou went through a lot of relevant information, reviewing previously learned details such as effective record analysis, interrogation techniques, and observing subtle facial expressions of suspects, preparing not to overlook any clues.
But unexpectedly, that man completely ignored them.
No matter what they asked, he remained silent.
Leaving everyone helpless.
It wasn’t until three days later that he suddenly spoke, and his first words were a request for a cigarette.
After handing one to him, he didn’t smoke it; he just held it in his hand and looked at it.
After that, he became very cooperative.
No one knew what he was thinking at that time.
If it weren’t for her chief later discovering a suspicious point in the case, it probably would have been closed directly.
If the Li Xiao of twenty years later is mature and shrewd, then in his younger days, he was like a sharp blade, with a hint of fierceness and rebellion in his eyes.
He seemed not to be messed with.
Jiang Rou has seen photos of the young Li Xiao, although it doesn’t resemble his current appearance. In the past, people didn’t take many photos, and Li Xiao’s pictures were even rarer. The only one she has is a photo of him standing in the snow with his four-year-old daughter.
The little girl was perched on his shoulders, both hands gripping his short hair, smiling like a little sun.
He, underneath her, was also smiling, but his smile was shallow, with a slight upturn of the corners of his mouth. On his handsome yet mischievous face, there was a hint of carelessness, a casual and lazy demeanor.
There was also a trace of imperceptible indulgence, just like millions of ordinary fathers. The only difference was his exceptionally high level of attractiveness. It was impossible to tell that he would be a person who would patiently endure and lay in wait for over a decade for the sake of avenging his daughter.
Now, the same pair of eyes, separated by twenty years of time.
Jiang Rou’s heart suddenly felt a bit complicated. She pursed her lips and was hesitating whether to say something when the man just glanced at her casually, then turned and bent down to pick up the door panel from the floor.
He then walked towards the courtyard gate, carrying the door panel.
Jiang Rou breathed a sigh of relief, taking advantage of him turning away. She quickly entered the house and went to the kitchen in the back.
When the sound of footsteps faded into the distance, the man, who was fixing the door at the entrance, turned his head and looked back, his gaze thoughtful.
After fixing the door, he closed it and entered the courtyard. After taking a few steps, it seemed like he noticed something. His steps halted, and his eyes swept over the now clean and spacious courtyard, pausing for a moment.
… …
In the kitchen, the rice in the pot had already boiled. There was a bit too much water. Jiang Rou ladled out a bowl of rice soup, covered the pot to let the rice continue cooking, and took a moment to tidy up the kitchen stove.
Although attending the police academy was exhausting initially, it instilled many good habits in Jiang Rou, such as a preference for keeping things neat and tidy.
The stove that was moldy and black just a few days ago was now wiped clean and white. The oil and salt containers were neatly arranged, and the adjacent cabinet had been wiped multiple times, revealing its original color. Inside, bowls and plates were stacked neatly from small to large.
The kitchen floor, originally scattered with wood chips and dry branches, belonged to Li Xiao’s grandfather. It underwent renovation when Li Xiao’s father got married, but none of the family members were particularly fond of cleanliness. Li Xiao’s grandfather casually tossed wooden materials, and Li Xiao himself was hardly ever at home. The original occupant had little sense of belonging here and was indifferent to cleanliness.
Jiang Rou’s own home was even messier and dirtier. She grew up in such an environment and found it quite ordinary.
So, when Jiang Rou arrived two days ago, she found that apart from the bedroom, the house was covered in dust, and there were even spider webs on the doors and windows.
Even the bedroom where she slept couldn’t escape a closer inspection. Clothes were strewn on the floor without being picked up, and the cup she used for drinking had a thick layer of dirt.
At that moment, she finally understood her mother’s despair towards her father and brother.
After tidying up the stove, Jiang Rou carried the dishes to the living room. Li Xiao happened to come in, holding a bucket of water. He didn’t even glance at her and went straight past her into the kitchen.
As Jiang Rou set down the dishes, she heard the sound of water pouring in the kitchen. He was filling the water tank in there.
In the kitchen, there was a semi-tall water tank for storage, but Jiang Rou hadn’t used it in the past couple of days. She found it too tiring and only fetched water as needed each day.
Seeing him fetching water now, Jiang Rou was somewhat surprised, finding it hard to believe that this guy would take the initiative to do household chores.
It seemed somewhat inconsistent with the image she had in her mind.
Although she thought so, Jiang Rou didn’t show it on her face. She waited until he came out of the kitchen before going in to continue bringing out the dishes.
There were only three dishes in total, and she quickly finished serving them. With nothing else to do and the rice not ready yet, she sat on a chair in the living room, playfully tapping her legs.
The man passed by several times, carrying the bucket filled with water, and both of them continued to ignore each other.
After five or six trips, he seemed to have filled the water tank and didn’t come out of the kitchen.
The house suddenly became quiet.
Jiang Rou felt more uncomfortable than being alone at home. She turned her head to check the clock, and more than ten minutes had already passed.
Hesitating for a moment, she stood up and went into the kitchen. As soon as she entered, she saw the man’s tall figure sitting in front of the stove, the dim firelight illuminating his sharply defined profile.
Jiang Rou took two bowls and pairs of chopsticks from the cabinet and rinsed them with hot water, and then uncovered the pot to serve herself a bowl of rice.
His bowl remained untouched. After thinking for a moment, she finally gathered the courage to speak softly to the person sitting below, “The meal is ready.”
Without looking at him, she turned around and quickly walked away with the chopsticks.
The man sitting below raised his head for a moment, said nothing, and only stood up after she left.
For Jiang Rou, this meal was an exceptionally painful experience. Sitting face to face, neither of them spoke. She kept her head down, unable to see the expression on the man’s face opposite her, feeling each moment passing like an eternity.
Having eaten a fair amount of snacks in the afternoon, Jiang Rou felt full after just one bowl of rice. She deliberately slowed down, thinking she could finish eating and then take the man’s dishes to wash, not expecting him to do it.
He refilled his bowl twice more, and in the end, not a single grain of rice was left in the pot. Jiang Rou almost felt like she was counting each grain of rice towards the end.
However, to Jiang Rou’s surprise, the man across from her stood up first after finishing, swiftly took the bowl and chopsticks from her hands, and with a calm expression, picked up the empty plates and took them to the kitchen.
Jiang Rou lifted her head slightly, somewhat surprised, and took a quick glance.
The man didn’t look at her, leaving her with a indifferent back. Soon, the sound of washing dishes echoed from the kitchen.
Jiang Rou sat there for a while before getting up to collect the laundry outside and find a bathing basin in the room. Only then did she go to the kitchen to heat water.
Just as she stepped out of the room, the man walked past her and went outside. Jiang Rou didn’t even look at him, heated water for a bath, and returned to her room, not concerned about his whereabouts.
Deep down, she secretly hoped he wouldn’t come back that night.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as she wished. After finishing her bath and coming out, the man happened to be pushing open the courtyard gate, entering from outside. In his hands, he held meat and vegetables, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. When he saw her coming out with the bath basin, he even threw away the unfinished cigarette.
Then, he turned around, fetched a bucket, and lowered the meat and vegetables into the well to cool.
By now, it was already dark outside, and Jiang Rou went back to her room and lay down on the bed.
Not long after, the man came in, took something from the wardrobe, and went out again. Soon after, the sound of water echoed from the courtyard.
In an instant, a vivid picture flashed in Jiang Rou’s mind, and her face couldn’t help but turn red. She hadn’t expected this person to be so nonchalant. Who would take a bath in the courtyard?
Even though Jiang Rou didn’t have strong feelings toward him, she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed for him.
Especially when she thought about the fact that they would be lying on the same bed in a while, she felt even more uneasy and tried to shift away to the side.
As a result, when Li Xiao finished his bath and returned to the room, Jiang Rou was almost pressed against the wall.
The man vigorously dried his hair, then casually tossed the towel onto the table in front of the window. He glanced at the silhouette huddled in the corner, turned on the electric fan at the foot of the bed, kicked off his shoes, and got into bed.
The wooden bed made a creaking sound, and the whole bed sank a bit.
Despite the fact that the double bed was quite spacious, as soon as he got on, it instantly felt cramped.
Jiang Rou was somewhat afraid of this man and squeezed a little further inside.
The man sleeping on the outer side turned off the lamp, and his movements cast shadows on the wall. Jiang Rou saw him casually open the mosquito net.
Enduring it for a while, she couldn’t resist quietly reminding him, “Make sure to tuck the net in properly.”
Not securing it properly would let mosquitoes in, and Jiang Rou had had enough of their bites these past few days.
Immediately, there was a rustling sound behind her.
Seeing that he was so easygoing and considering his previous actions, Jiang Rou relaxed a bit. She felt that this person wasn’t as frightening as she initially thought.
With a bit more courage, after lying on her side for a while, feeling her body becoming stiff, she carefully turned over to face his direction. The room was pitch dark, but there was a faint moonlight coming in through the window on the bed side, allowing her to vaguely see his silhouette.
Holding onto her thoughts for a while, and after contemplating, she spoke softly again, “Um… the child is due in a few months, and I need to prepare some things for her.”
Li Xiao was often absent from home, and Jiang Rou wasn’t sure when he would leave again. If he left early in the morning, she was afraid he might forget to leave some money behind.
Although she wasn’t sure if he had any money on him now.
After saying this, the room fell into silence once again.
Just as Jiang Rou was beginning to wonder if she had expressed herself too subtly and he hadn’t understood, the man also turned over. He lay on his back in bed and then, with a sarcastic tone that seemed to carry a mocking smile, he asked her, “What about the money I gave you?”
Jiang Rou couldn’t come up with an answer. The original owner had given the money to her younger brother.
Perhaps sensing something about “her” character, the man sneered coldly and fell silent, not speaking any further.
Seeing him like this, Jiang Rou became somewhat frightened. She timidly turned over, not daring to speak anymore.
Silently in her heart, she considered looking for that cheap landlady. At worst, she could also help sell vegetables with her.
She gently touched her belly, let out a sigh, and felt that her situation was truly miserable.
In the darkness, the man turned his head slightly, expressionless, and glanced at her beside him.
